Researcher Manel Esteller receives 2015 National Research Award

Manel Esteller has received the National Research Award granted by the Government of Catalonia and the Catalan Foundation for Research and Innovation (FCRi). Esteller is an ICREA research professor and director of the Cancer Epigenetics and Biology Program at the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), head of the center’s Cancer Epigenetics Group and professor of Genetics at the University of Barcelona (UB) faculty of Medicine. The researcher also spoke at the Barcelona Epigenetic and Cancer Conference (BCEC), an event organized by B·Debate –an initiative of Biocat and the “la Caixa” Foundation- that brought world-renowned researchers to Barcelona to discuss epigenetic and cancer.

The National Research Award, with a €40,000 prize, is given to a researcher who has contributed recently and significantly to the advancement of an area of science: human and social sciences, health and life sciences, engineering and technology or experimental science.

The award recognizes the groundbreaking research Esteller has conducted in the field of epigenetics, specifically the study of inheritable changes in gene function derived from external or environmental factors not related to the DNA sequence. This research has been decisive in studying methylation (biochemical modification of DNA) as a mechanism that alters the genes that suppress tumors in humans.

The Government of Catalonia and the FCRi also recognized Frank Koppens, ICREA research professor at the Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO), in the Young Talent category. The award in the Scientific Communication category went to the "Quèquicom" program by Televisió de Catalunya; the National Award for Scientific Patronage went to Fundació Catalunya-La Pedrera; and the National Award for Public-Private Partnership in R&D went to Fundació Alícia.